Ave Maria Stewardship Community District Homeowners
If Margaritaville is allowed to shirk its responsibility, Ave Maria homeowners will shoulder the cost.
$68.4 millionover 30 years
Street address or folio number. What you type stays on your device and is never sent or saved.
The District budget, explained
2026-27 adopted budget, and the ten years behind it.
- Paid by property owners$14.9 millionbilled to property owners this year, including about $2.2 million on lots the developer and builders still own▲ +$2.0M (+16%) vs last year▲ +$12.1M (+431%) since 2017-18
- 2026-27 assessment$984.20per home this year for operations and reserves, the same for every home▲ +$658 (+202%) since 2017-18
- Developer's contribution11%at mostthe developer's share of this year's District budget: $1.9 million of $16.9 million.▼ Down from 55% in 2017-18▼ 84% less toward operations than in 2017-18
Likely closer to 4%
The developer's share is settled at year-end (the District calls it a true-up): it only pays what's actually needed once the books close. In 2024-25 it was budgeted $2,813,780 and actually paid $939,117, about a third. The same this year would leave its share near 4%.
- Margaritaville's cost to everyone else$68.4 millionwhat special treatment for Margaritaville could cost the rest of Ave Maria over 30 years, at full build-out, in today's dollars
10 years of District budgets
- 55%$32617-18unaudited
- 47%$32618-19
- 43%$32619-20
- 34%$32620-21
- 31%$37421-22
- 30%$45822-23
- 28%$48123-24
- 8%$58324-25
- 8%$84225-26budget
- 11%$98426-27budget
Assessments and other revenueDeveloper contribution, with its share above each yearBudgeted, not finalPer home, operations and reserves (its own scale)
Why did upkeep and savings assessments grow from $0.8 million to $7.1 million?
Those are the District's total operations and reserve assessments in the 2017-18 and 2026-27 budgets, paid by homes, businesses, the university and builders' lots. Two things drove it: the amount of property paying rose about 201% (the equivalent of 2,407 homes then, 7,236 now), and the per-home rate rose 202% ($326 to $984). Together, the total rose 807%.
Is the developer's contribution really going up in 2026-27?
Probably not. The developer only pays what assessments and other revenue don't cover, and the last 2 bars are adopted budgets, not final. When the year closes, its payment is settled to what was actually needed (the District calls it a true-up). In 2024-25 it was budgeted $2,813,780 and actually paid $939,117, about 33%. The same true-up would put 2025-26 near 3% and 2026-27 near 4%, not 8% and 11%.
Through 2024-25, what the developer actually paid, from the District's audits. 2017-18 is from the year-end amended budget, since no audit is posted. Property is counted in homes' worth: each year's operations and reserve assessments divided by the per-home rate. That's higher than the number of homes, since businesses and other property pay too; the 2025-26 roll had 6,159 homes.
Where this year's money goes
Why do I have to pay for the District?
Because your property benefits from the District. It's not a tax, but a "special assessment", and that means under Florida law the District has to show three things:
A special benefit to your property
Your land gained development rights under the Town of Ave Maria SRA: the right to build homes here. The benefit belongs to the property, not to whoever lives in it, so all single-family plots pay it (including vacant and unbuilt homes).
A logical connection
The District's infrastructure plan is what makes it possible to meet the requirements the SRA sets. The link is logical, not physical: your home doesn't have to touch every road or drainage ditch.
A fair and reasonable split
Each property pays in proportion to the benefit. The District measures it with its traffic study: homes make 85.3% of the Town's trips, so homes carry that share, and every single-family home pays the same rate.
How is my share determined?
As we see above, special assessments must be fairly and reasonably split among the properties benefiting. Here's how the District does it: it sets one rate for every home by spreading its full build-out budget across the planned Town.
Cost of the finished Town
$8,836,500
a year to run the finished Town: 10,350 homes plus shops, a hotel, schools and the university. Plus $1,700,000 for reserves.
Homes' share, by traffic
85.3%
of the Town's traffic comes from homes: 48,800 of 57,192 daily trips, so homes pay that share.
Divided among all homes: your rate
$984.20
The homes' share divided by 10,350 homes is $939.07. With county costs added, your rate this year is $828.14 operations + $156.06 reserves, the same for every home after the phase-in and inflation. The developer covers any gap until build-out.
If Margaritaville's homes pay less, everyone else pays the difference
$68.4 millionover 30 years
That's $220 a year for every home in Ave Maria, in today's dollars, at full build-out. Search your address above to see your own share.
Up to 3,500 homes at Latitude Margaritaville are inside the District. They get their development rights from the Town of Ave Maria SRA, just like every other home here, and the District's infrastructure exists to serve that plan. Today's District budget leaves them out. Whatever they don't pay, the other homes do.
Why these homes should count the same, with sources
Same development rights. Its homes are entitled as part of the Town of Ave Maria. The District's assessment reports say the special benefit, what each home gets from the District, is exactly that: without the District's infrastructure, development in the District "would be prohibited by law."
Same District. The land was added to the District in 2023, at the landowner's request, and it's in the District today. The District's current build-out budget simply leaves it out.
Same class. The District's methodology charges every single-family home the same O&M and reserve rate, based on a District-wide traffic study. It has never created a separate class for one neighborhood's own roads or drainage.
"Use" doesn't matter. Counsel's May 2026 memo, written to explain what is necessary to assess a property, says homes benefit even if they don't touch every improvement, because the District's infrastructure "is necessary for development." On Margaritaville itself, the memo left the question to a methodology consultant, and it took the developer's description of the project as given, "not otherwise reviewed or confirmed."
How $220 was calculated. By trying to be fair and reasonable. It could be more or less, but it's certainly not $0. Here's the thinking: count Margaritaville's 3,500 homes like every other home, keep the District's build-out budget the same, and count their traffic at the same average rate per home. The per-home rate falls from $984.20 to $763.81, and that difference, in today's dollars, is what leaving them out costs you. It could be more if the District takes on extra costs to serve Margaritaville while its homes pay less, if more homes are built, or if those homes make fewer trips than average. It could be less if they pay something, just less than everyone else. Full build-out is years away. Bond payments are not included.
Why 3,500 homes. It's the most recent public figure: the developer's own FAQ on the Town's expansion (Ave Maria Development, updated April 23, 2026) describes the 1,001 acres east of Camp Keais Road as an active adult, age-restricted community "with a maximum of 3,500 units."
Where it stands. The same FAQ says the area "will not be part of the AMSCD." A 2026 bill to take it out of the District, HB 4023, stalled after residents objected: its sponsor, Rep. Lauren Melo, announced she was withdrawing it , and it died in committee in March. Then, on June 9, 2026, Collier County commissioners voted 4–1 to add the land to the Town of Ave Maria SRA (Resolution 2026-124), giving it the same development rights as the rest of the Town: the rights the District's own assessment reports call the special benefit. The land is still in the District, and the District is now having an assessment methodology prepared for it. If that methodology puts these homes in anything other than the same single-family class as every other home, that's special treatment, and everyone else pays the difference.
About this tool
This tool looks only at the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District (AMSCD) assessments, one of several bodies property owners in Ave Maria pay.
What else do Ave Maria homeowners pay?
Ave Maria Stewardship Community District This tool
Limited government body · Who runs it: 5 supervisors: 3 elected by landowners, 2 elected by residents
Creates, operates and maintains the public infrastructure needed to enable development rights for the Town of Ave Maria SRA under the Collier County Land Development Code: roads, water management, landscaping, street lights and preserves, plus repaying the bonds that built them. Some neighborhoods also pay their own neighborhood bond.
Your November tax bill
as special assessmentsCollier County
Government body · Who runs it: 5 commissioners, elected by voters
Property taxes for county services such as sheriff, roads, parks and conservation, based on your home's value.
Your November tax bill
Collier County School District
Government body · Who runs it: School board members elected by voters
Public schools. Usually the largest single line on a Florida property tax bill, based on your home's value.
Your November tax bill
Immokalee Fire Control District
Independent special district · Who runs it: Commissioners elected by voters
Fire protection and rescue for Ave Maria, paid for with its own tax rate on your home's value.
Your November tax bill
Collier Mosquito Control District
Independent special district · Who runs it: Commissioners elected by voters
Mosquito spraying and control across Collier County, paid for with its own small tax rate.
Your November tax bill
South Florida Water Management District and Big Cypress Basin
State regional agency · Who runs it: Governing board appointed by the Governor
Flood protection and water supply for the region, funded by a small tax rate on your home's value.
Your November tax bill
The Town of Ave Maria
Zoning area · Who runs it: No one: it's a planning area
A Stewardship Receiving Area (SRA): a County planning area that sets what can be built where. Not a government: no board, no budget, no bill.
Nothing to pay
Homeowner associations
Private · Who runs it: The developer, elected homeowners, or both
Your master association and your neighborhood's association.
Dues, billed separately
Utilities
Private · Who runs it: Companies or cooperatives, each with its own governance
Water, sewer and other services.
Billed separately
Who made this?
I did. I'm Greg Colker, and I live in Ave Maria.
The District is so complicated that for about 20 years most of us have just paid the bill and wondered. This is my try at some practical transparency: a free tool built from public records, and many, many hours of reading budgets, going to meetings, asking questions and learning how this wonderful place and its quirks actually work.
I'll keep it updated with new information and changes as I learn of them. I'd love to hear from you: questions about your bill, ideas for what else to explain or explore, and especially anything you think should be corrected. I read every message and fix mistakes.
This is not an official site.
It is not the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District. It does not speak for the District, its Board or its staff, or for any other government body, company or organization, and none of them has reviewed or endorsed it. This tool is solely the work of Greg Colker, as a private citizen, neighbor and friend.
Official AMSCD Website: https://avemariastewardshipcd.org/